


brother

by Karturtle (karturtle)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Klaus is a good brother, Misgendering In Flashback, sometimes you have to wait until the apocalypse to figure out your pronouns, the rest of the siblings are here but it doesn't matter enough to tag them individually, trans five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:49:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23111233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karturtle/pseuds/Karturtle
Summary: A few small glimpses into Number Five - The Boy.(snippets of trans!five that i wrote ages ago and never posted anywhere)
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Everyone
Comments: 12
Kudos: 333





	brother

**Author's Note:**

> a small warning: theres a flashback where the wrong pronouns are used for five, as he's young enough that he doesn't really have the words to describe how hes feeling in regards to who he is. we fix it though
> 
> written by someone currently struggling with being misgendered

Five opened his closet, peering in at the contents. Blazers, blazers, and more blazers. He sighed, realizing that the only thing that would really fit him right now would be an old uniform. A damn shame, having to give up on a perfectly good suit like this. 

The oversized pants had to go first- he was so skinny and short at 13 that he didn’t have any trouble just letting them fall and stepping out of them. Then he shrugged off the oversized suit coat, loosened his tie and removed that too, then started unbuttoning his while collar shirt. A glance down - and the sweep of long hair that followed the motion - had Five grimacing in displeasure. 

There were more pressing matters to think about, but as soon as he handled the upcoming apocalypse, he was going to work on the numbers to try and age himself up. This body seemed to be jumping headfirst into puberty, and  _ hell no _ , he wasn’t doing that again. The sooner he gets back to his already-transitioned adult body, the better. 

He was trying to ignore his current one as much as possible.

Five dropped the shirt onto the ground and reached in for one of the ready-made outfits waiting in the closet. With a disdainful look, the pleated skirt was immediately tossed aside. Luckily for him, his younger self had already stolen a few pairs of pants from his brothers. He reached into the corner of the closet and grabbed one, then quickly got himself dressed.

Once he was ready to leave, he cast another look to his abandoned suit on the ground. He didn’t exactly have time to take care of it properly and he wouldn’t be needing it, but it was still a damn fine suit. With a sigh, he straightened his Academy tie and stepped out of his room.

* * *

_ “Klaus?!” Number Four all but shouted, giddy. Five’s expression curled into a sneer. She didn’t see what the big deal was. It was inconvenient, really. They were ten. They’d been called by their numbers their entire lives, why try and confuse everyone with ‘real names’?  _

_ Her disdain certainly had nothing to do with the uncomfortable feeling twisting in her gut at her upcoming naming. No, she simply thought it was stupid. There was an expression she’d read in a book once that felt apt- if it isn’t broken, why fix it? Whatever Grace was playing at, she wasn’t impressed. _

_ Unfortunately, her siblings didn’t feel the same. Even Number One seemed excited about the idea, despite him bearing the name One with pride. Five had watched as he murmured the word ‘Luther’ to himself over and over again, a small bit of wonder peeking through in the way he said it.  _

_ “Hey  Diego !” Four bounded up to where Two he sat on the couch and reached to grab his hand, shaking it up and down rapidly, “My name is  Klaus , nice to meet you!” _

_ ‘Diego’ was trying his best not to look equally as excited, yanking his hand back with a laugh and a swat at his brother. “K-Klaus.” He replied with an approving nod, grinning, “Cool.” _

_ “What country is that one from?” Six asked, wringing his hands together with anticipation by Five's side. Grace had explained she picked each name from the culture their father found them in. _

_ “Klaus is a germanic name, from the country Germany itself.” Grace replied dutifully with her typical smile.  _

_ “Klaus is germy?” Diego asked mischievously, earning a small laugh from Six. The Klaus in question scoffed. _

_ “I’m not germy!” _

_ “Cooties.” Allison said, her voice grave as her mouth betrayed her with a smile. She was twirling a strand of hair with her finger as she considered her new name.  _

_ “Silly. Germany is a country, you all know that.” Grace added fondly, curbing Klaus’ growing outrage. “And it means ‘the people’s victory’. Someone that strives for the greater good.” _

_ Five scoffed. Four and ‘good’ weren’t exactly synonymous. Unfortunately, her noise caught Grace’s attention. _

_ “And for you, Five.” She started, gazing down at him with artificial fondness, “I picked your name from Turkish origins.” _

_ Her gut clenched as she made eye contact with her doting mother. The information was filed away for later and ignored in favor of the sheer dread she felt.  _

_ “No.” The dread had turned to indignation. The word came out of her mouth before she could think about it. It was uncharacteristic, but something deep in her rebelled at the idea of some stupid girly name.  _

_ Grace blinked, her smile unfailing even as her siblings turned to stare at her in confusion. “Yes, actually. You were born in Istanbul-” _

_ “That’s not what I meant.” Five snapped, crossing her arms and clenching her jaw, “I don’t want your stupid name.” _

_ His siblings looked confused. Grace tilted her head to the side a fraction. “You don’t want to hear it first?” She asked, patient as ever. _

_ “ No .” She replied petulantly. She felt like a stubborn kid, knew it was childish, but something in her chest burned at the various ‘girl’ names flashing through her mind. Every single thing she thought of sounded wrong, and  Five already felt right. _

_ “Okay then.” Grace said, and Five blinked. “Do you want to pick your own name?” _

_ She considered this for a moment. It was a weird thought- she didn’t expect Grace to relent so easily, and she definitely didn’t expect this big of a choice. _

_ “Oh! Can we offer suggestions?” Klaus asked, “Wait, can I pick mine? Why can’t I pick mine?” _

_ “Sh-shut up, Klaus.” Diego responded, eyes narrowing, “M-mom p-picked it out. It’s a good name.” _

_ “No, and  no .” Five spat, shaking her head, “This is stupid.” _

_ “You’re stupid!” Diego cried, ever the momma's boy.  _

_ “Cry me a river,  Two .” _

_ “T-that’s n- don’t c-call me--” _

_ “Five. Be kind.” Grace cut in, her voice scolding. But then she softened, kneeling down in front of her. “If you don’t want a name, I won’t give you one. It’s okay.” _

_ Five stared at her, eyes scrutinizing and judging. She searched for any hint of deception, but found none. _

_ “My name is Number Five.” She stated firmly, the anger and confusion in her chest starting to simmer down. "Five." _

* * *

As he paced, Five caught a glimpse of himself in an old mirror hung in the living room, freezing abruptly. “ _ Alright _ .” he growled, gathering everyone’s attention. He vanished momentarily, and came back holding a pair of.. Scissors? They all watched, mildly concerned about what he’d do with them. He wasn’t exactly what they’d call stable, at the moment.

“Five,” Allison started warily, raising a placating hand. 

“Listen up, because I’m only going to say this  _ once _ and it’d better get through your thick skulls.” Five said, turning his head to give them all a cold look while holding the scissors almost menacingly.

“Luther’s gonna have to pay extra attention.” Diego mumbled as he watched, causing Luther to give him a disapproving scowl. 

Before he could bite back, Vanya’s soft, mild voice interrupted. “We’re listening, Five.” Vanya said, ignoring looking at the other two while urging the discussion onwards so it wouldn’t turn into another fight.

“Good.” His free hand ran through his long hair as he scrutinized himself in the mirror. “Now: read my lips.” Five said, turning back to look at them with piercing eyes.

“I am  _ not _ a girl.” Five stared them all down. It was almost businesslike, the way he spoke, but it left zero room for argument. “I never was one, for the record. And if you so much as  _ suggest _ that I am, I will break one of your fingers. From now on you’ll only refer to me as he and him.” 

He turned back to his reflection, and then before anyone could even begin to process it, he grabbed a large chunk of dark, wavy hair, and cleanly cut it off. 

Eyes widened with varying degrees of shock at the news. Of all the things they expected Number Five to say, that wasn’t one of them. There was only the sharp sound of slicing and cutting as Five hacked at the long strands, and everyone saw Allison’s hands twitch at the half-hazard haircut. But Five was relentless, shearing off dark and wavy hair as he saw fit. 

It wasn’t long before he was finishing up. The scissors sliced off the last of the long hair, a clean cutting sound in the echoing room. The haircut obviously wasn’t done with any precision in mind, some parts shorter than others, but Five looked in the mirror and he seemed to be satisfied.

“So. Are we  _ clear _ ?” Five turned his head and asked, his voice just low enough to verge on threatening. The adult Hargreeves all looked confused and stunned still, staring at Five in the new light and trying to make sense of it despite the Five they knew as children.

The person who broke them out of the awkward silence wasn’t a surprise.

“Oh,  _ fuck _ yeah!” Klaus shouted around the cigarette in his mouth, which he grabbed with two fingers to point at Five with. He scrambled to sit up, smiling at Five with glee. And maybe a bit of mania. “Good job on the gender, baby bro!”

“Gee, thanks Klaus. I picked it out myself.” Five sarcastically bit back. Unfortunately, before Klaus could say anything else in his excitement, Luther spoke up to curb his enthusiasm.

“Um, Klaus, I’m not sure that’s a.. a respectful way to respond to Five’s.. announcement.” The large man scolded, giving Klaus a displeased look.

“No, no no no, you’ve got it all wrong, see? Five _ gets _ me.” Klaus stated, shaking his head emphatically at him. He pointed at Five again with his cigarette, smoke lazily trailing in the air, “You get me. Five knows what’s up.”

Luther opened his mouth to respond, but Five interrupted. “He’s fine, leave him alone.” He looked over to Klaus for a moment, giving him a discerning look. 

_ “Jumping through space is one thing,” Five said, then appeared by the fridge to grab the peanut butter. “Jumping through time is a toss of the dice.”  _

_ Pausing in his explanation, Five looked at Klaus of all people, scanning him up and down before saying, “Nice dress.” _

_ “Oh, well, danke.” Klaus replied, pleased as he twirled a tassel around.  _

“I get him.” Five said knowingly.

“That makes one of us.” Diego muttered, leaning against the doorway. Klaus flashed him a grin and a peace sign.

“He gets me.” Klaus repeated, satisfied as he cozied back into the couch.

* * *

_ One of the only good things Five had in the apocalypse was the complete lack of gender roles and expectations.  _

_ There weren’t mirrors to look into, to remind him something was off. The rags he considered clothes were bulky enough that the size of his chest didn’t matter. He had the semi-burnt literature to confirm his suspicions about himself when he was younger. And there weren’t other men and women to compare himself to. Only Delores who supported him to the ends of the charred earth and called him a man as soon as he told her his truth-  her man, no less. _

_ Now, seeing this dainty yet dangerous woman in the middle of his rubble-filled camp, he felt his chest tighten in a discomfort he hadn’t felt since he was a child. He knew he was right to feel that way as soon as she opened her mouth to address _ him _ as a  _ her _. _

_ “--apocalypse is no place for a skilled lady such as-” _

_ Five set her straight fairly quickly, barking out his words in the deepest voice he could muster. He wasn’t about to be misgendered by what was probably just a hallucination fueled by sleep deprivation and everything-else deprivation.  _

_ “I am  _ not a lady _.” The expression he gave her was as manic as it was furious. Her eyebrows raised a hair, and he resisted the urge to pull up his scope again. _

_ “My mistake. I shouldn’t have assumed.” She simply said, and he froze. His gun lowered another inch. He wasn’t expecting her to relent so easily when she seemed to delight in having the upper hand. “Who are you, then?” _

**Author's Note:**

> its me, back at it again!
> 
> i was rereading the war is over to hopefully write some more of that, and when i went to find the google doc i found this instead! so i polished it up a bit and decided to post it. these are pretty rough, but i hope you enjoyed! my life is whack at the moment - i am starting a whole ass business, bro - but i do plan to try and finish my other fic, and maybe do some drabbles in that universe.
> 
> find me on tumblr at @karturtle


End file.
